


You Have Thirty Seconds. Run!

by TimeLadyoftheSith



Series: Designated Driver [3]
Category: Doctor Who
Genre: A game of tag, F/M, Who's gonna win this round?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-02
Updated: 2017-07-02
Packaged: 2018-11-22 09:16:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11377170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TimeLadyoftheSith/pseuds/TimeLadyoftheSith
Summary: The Doctor initiates a hunt, and Rose is the prey.





	You Have Thirty Seconds. Run!

Rose skipped to the galley, pulling her hair up as she went. It was the Doctor's turn to cook lunch, and after their morning adventure she had happily taken to her shower to clean up while he did just that. Feeling freshly washed, wide awake, and cheerful, she was beyond ready to eat.

The Doctor had taken her little payback two weeks before in stride. She had hidden until she was tired, expecting him to come chasing after her, but he never showed. Wandering back to the console room, she had found him tinkering away. Nothing else had been said about it, and Rose had let it drift away from her mind.

The galley door was shut, which had never happened before, but on it was a simple post it note. Rose paused to read it, and her heart leapt into her throat. "If you can read this, I can smell you. You have thirty seconds. Run."

Rose spun on her heel and took off down the hall. So he hadn't decided to let her little trick go. Left, right, left, left, straight, right, up a ladder, left again. Rose's bare feet slipped and slid on the metal and she went. It was an exhilarating feeling, being chased but knowing it wasn't out of fear of death. She was vaguely reminded of playing tag on the playground, but this was the Doctor, nothing was that simple.

Every so often, she could hear the thud of his boots and the sound of his laughter. Rose's lungs began to burn, but she couldn't slow down, couldn't stop to rest. A pleasant fear was coursing through her veins, it spurred her adrenaline higher, making the ache in her calves and the panting of her breath a secondary thought.

She rounded into a dead end, and, suddenly, a door popped up to her right. There was the sound of boots drawing closer, so Rose dover into the room and shut the door behind her. She was treated to soft grass beneath her feet and trees soared overhead. Apparently the TARDIS had gardens. Rose couldn't stop to look around, so she kept running.

She darted in between trees and flower bushes, trying not to leave a trail and failing. She crossed the room, finding another door, but it was locked. Rose spun on one foot wildly, trying to seek a hiding place. There was the sound of a door closing on the other end of the garden, and her heart flipped. The Doctor was catching up.

She skirted a wide pond, heading for a tree with low hanging branches. It was only a fee feet away, and Rose knew the thick leaves would prove to make excellent cover. She put on an extra spurt of speed and jumped up. Before her fingers could close on the branch, a pair of arms latched around her waist, tackling her to the ground firmly but gently.

"Gotcha" the Doctor laughed triumphantly as he pinned her face down in the grass. His hands tightened around her wrists, and his legs locked in with hers. He took care not too let his weight crush her though.

Rose panted into the soft green beneath her face, and she wriggled under him in an attempt to break free. "Let me up." She laughed. It wasn't that she was afraid he would hurt her, but his body heavy on hers was doing things that probably wouldn't be acceptable. If he could smell her from the other side of the galley door, what else would he pick up the scent of if she didn't get her hormones to listen.

"Thought you trusted me." The Doctor practically purred into her ear. His fingers flexed around her wrists, and he shifted his weight. His right knee was now firmly planted between her thighs, and it was definitely upping her body temperature.

Rose turned her head so she could speak. "I do, Doctor." He could assume the breathlessness was from running.

"Then why are you trembling?" Rose hadn't even realized she was. His observation made her realize that she was indeed shaking softly, but it wasn't fear. It was from having him so dominantly splayed across her back and pinning her down.

"From the running." It was the only excuse she could think of. She prayed vehemently that he would buy the tiny white lie, but his nose brushed the sensitive spot behind her ear, and he drew in a breath.

"Don't lie to the designated driver, Rose." The Doctor's voice was lethal in its deep tone, and his chilled lips brushed across her hair as he spoke.

"Doctor." Rose tugged her wrists against his grip. She knew how to get out of this if she wanted. "You're hurting me" it was a lie, but she made her voice go soft and vulnerable to make it believable.

Like magic, he was off of her in a flash, rolling her over, icy eyes wide in apology and stuttering for words. "I didn't mean to, Rose. I'd never."

Rose scrambled to her feet, pretended to rub her wrists, and then looked up at him. "I win!" She cackled and took off running again.

"That's cheating!" The Doctor was close behind her as she ran, and Rose tried to pick up the pace. The unlocked door was just ahead, but he grabbed her waist, spinning her so her back pressed into it. His palms slammed into the metal on either side of her body with a finality.

"Let me go!" Rose was laughing, although a bit put out at being caught again so swiftly. Then her eyes found his, and they were empty. The Doctor wasn't laughing. He wasn't even smirking. He looked downright callous. "What?"

"That wasn't funny, Rose." His voice wasn't empty like his glacial eyes. It was wounded, almost offended. It wasn't the sarcastic mock offense he sometimes used either. "You can't pretend that I hurt you to trick me." The Doctor's glacial eyes shut for a moment, but then opened again heavy with hurt and betrayal. "That's my biggest fear, hurting you. I'd never forgive myself." His eyes closed again, and he hung his head in defeat.

Contrition surged through Rose. It had been a cheap trick, and now the cruelty of it was all too real. She never knew that was his deepest fear. After everything they'd faced together, and he'd faced before her, bringing her pain was what he most dreaded. Nobody had ever said that to her before, and the feeling that came with the confession was one she didn't know how to process.

"Doctor, I'm sorry. I didn't..." Even to her own ears, Rose's words seemed pitiful. How could she show him she hadn't meant to hit him with such a dirty blow? She lifted her hands, cupping his face. "I'll never do it again. I promise."

The Doctor sighed, still not opening his eyes. He dropped his hands from the door and took a step back. Rose exhaled at the loss of his form towering over her felt her heart drop. Then his eyes found hers, and the seriousness in them was shattered by the smirk his lips twisted into. "I win!" Then he was running.

"I'm gonna get you back for that!" Rose called after him and took to the chase. Some part of her wondered exactly what the point of this game now was, but she didn't care. It was thrilling to see the Doctor so unguarded and enjoying himself. She reached the door he had exited through, only to find it locked and another post it note attached to its surface.

Doctor: II  
Rose: I

So he was making a game of it, and Rose had no idea what she could win or lose. With that contemplation, she turned back to the other door. It was time to plot her next move.

 

 


End file.
